Gearhead Mom

Monday, July 28, 2008

Is That a Pump in Your Purse?

Posted by Missy W. @ 8:01 AM

My friend Kate wrote a review of her favorite pump for us. Thanks, Kate!

I am a pumping queen. I pump every three hours, day and night. My pumping odyssey began in February when my son was born prematurely. Due to his premature birth and the calories it takes to suck, I was only allowed to breastfeed him twice a day for ten minutes each time during his stay in the NICU. I was struggling with my milk supply and so, during this time, I started pumping every two to three hours to establish my supply and produce enough to keep up with his feeds. After he was discharged, we never successfully transitioned from the bottle to the breast and so I continued pumping and bottle feeding. 

I’ve used EVERY SINGLE Medela double-electric pump on the market.  I’ve even burned through the motor on a hospital grade Medela Symphony pump. The Medela Freestyle is, hands down, the best Medela pump on the market. Originally, I had purchased the Medela Pump-in-Style Advanced, which was a great pump but it is in a large black tote, and was just not super portable. At nights, I used the Medela Symphony, which isn’t portable at all. Then the Freestyle was released. The Freestyle touts itself as Medela’s first hands-free, double-electric pump. It fits in the palm of your hand and is completely portable. All of this is true, and more. As it stands, I am writing this while pumping both breasts.

The Freestyle is about the size of a woman’s hand, small enough to throw in your purse or diaper bag, and is about three inches thick. It has a power cord to charge its lithium-ion battery and I use it most frequently on battery power. On battery power, you can get approximately three hours of pumping time before recharging is needed. It has the same motor strength as the Pump-in-Style. Other than its size and portability, here is what sets it apart from the Pump-in-Style:
• 2-Phase Expression Technology: The Pump-in-Style Advanced has this feature, the P-I-S Original does not. The 2-Phase Expression technology means it has two cycles—a faster cycle that mimics the let-down phase of nursing followed by the more rhythmic cycle. I think this is pretty critical; it seems to cut a lot of time off of pumping as it gets the milk flowing faster.
• LCD/Digital Display: the lighted display is one of the best features of this pump, in my opinion. The display shows how long you’ve been pumping and the suction strength. It lights up for the nighttime.
• Memory button: I have to admit I don’t use this feature. But, it’s kind of cool in theory. You can program the pump to remember your pumping pattern, the strength and amount of time.
• Hands-Free Feature: anyone who has held an arm across their chest to hold shields and bottles in place or otherwise propped them up can appreciate this feature.  The Freestyle comes with bra adapters that attach the shields and bottles to you so you can be completely hands-free while pumping. I can’t comment on how well this feature works as I don’t use it. I figured out a long time ago how to balance the shields in my bra to make it hands-free. However, I will say that I have always been able to pump completely hands-free and it’s wonderful. I have typed, read magazines and books, have even fed my son while pumping…and I’ve even driven while pumping.

In short, I love the Freestyle. I love its portability and cordless feature. I often pump on my way to work (I carpool with my husband) but it is actually possible to pump while driving due to the hands-free kit. My pump goes everywhere with me and without a bulky tote bag. The major cons are that the shields can only be used with the Freestyle (they have been redesigned and are not the same as the other Medela shields and membranes), the spare parts are a little harder to find, the pump costs a little more, and it makes a rather embarrassing moo-ing sound (although appropriate, I guess). It is quite a bit louder than the Pump-in-Style.

I definitely recommend this pump to anyone in the market for one. I used this pump to establish and maintain my milk supply and it has worked well enough that I had to invest in a deep freezer to hold all of my excess milk…

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